Italian Lemon Pound Cake is the only lemon cake recipe you will ever need! You are going to love the super moist texture and the rich citrus flavor.
The Italian Lemon Pound Cake is sure to have you hooked after just one bite. It really is that good! Every time I take this cake to a party it is always a huge hit.
Have you ever bit into a lemon dessert and instantly pucker up because the lemon flavor is so overpowering? You don’t need to worry about that with this recipe. It has the perfect balance between sweet and tart, so it is pucker free.
If you have a chance, try making the cake the day before you are going to serve it, because It tastes even better the next day!
Serve this Italian Lemon Pound Cake at a baby or wedding shower or enjoy it while sitting on the back porch on a quiet summer evening.
Who am I kidding, this cake would be amazing no matter where you are or who you serve it to.
With love from my kitchen to yours,
Carrie
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Here are some of the items that I recommend for making this cake.
*UPDATE: I added 1 teaspoon of fresh ginger to the cake batter, because I felt like it needed a little bit of kick to the lemon flavor. It’s amazing how much of a difference it makes. Then I omitted the butter from the glaze, because the butter is very temperamental and can curdle. I brush the glaze on the warm cake and once it has cooled down, drizzle the lemon cream cheese frosting over the cake.
Italian Lemon Pound Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup of sour cream
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tsp. of fresh ginger, minced
Zest of 2 lemons ( about 2 tbsp.)
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees
1. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. In another bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in the sour cream, lemon juice, vanilla, ginger, and lemon zest.
2. Mix half of the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Mix in the buttermilk and then add in the remaining flour mixture. Mix just until the flour disappears. Pour the cake batter into a bundt pan that has been generously sprayed with baking spray.
3. Bake for 70 to 80 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Turn the cake over on a cake platter. Spread the lemon glaze over the warm cake so that the glaze can soak into the cake. Let the cake cool completely and drizzle the lemon cream cheese frosting over the cake.
Lemon Glaze
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoon lemon juice, at room temperature
1. Whisk the powdered sugar and lemon juice together and mix until the glaze is smooth.
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
4 oz. of cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp. of lemon zest
1/4 cup of lemon juice
2 cups of powder sugar
- Mix the all the ingredients together until smooth and creamy.
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This cake looks amazing! I can’t wait to try it. How is the cake without icing or with a cream cheese frosting? I usually have trouble with glazes.
Linda,
Thanks! I think the cake is really good without the glaze. The glaze really makes the flavor pop more, but a lemon cream cheese frosting would be good on it.
Have a great week!
Carrie
I made this cake yesterday in a 9X13 pan and baked it at 300 for 50 to 55 minutes and it was perfect. As you suggested, I made a Lemon Cream Cheese Icing. It was lovely!
For the icing, I used 2 Tbsp. butter and 4 oz. cream cheese (both softened), 1 1/2 cups icing sugar, 1/2 tsp. vanilla and 1/2 tsp lemon flavoring, 2 tsp. lemon zest. I also used a wee bit of yellow food coloring to give it a lemon color.
Next time I make it, I will use the Bundt pan and see how that goes. Like others mentioned, my cake was white and not the yellow like the photo but with the icing being yellow, it gave my cake the lemon look. This recipe will be a “keeper” for me. I even think without icing it would be great. Thanks for sharing.
Linda
Linda,
I am so happy that the cake worked for you in a 9×13 pan. I will have to give it a try. The color of the cake is affected by the egg yolks. If your egg yolk is a lighter yolk, your cake will be a lighter color. Interesting huh? To guarantee that your cake is a darker yellow color you can either use cage-free eggs or add a few drops of yellow food coloring. Thanks for the feedback!
Have a great week!
Carrie
Is it Celsius or farienheight ????
Kayla,
It is Fahrenheit.
~Carrie
This cake is so beautiful looking not to mention sounds perfect! I plan on making it tonight for mothers day tomorrow. I was just wondering if you think it could be made in a loaf pan instead of a bundt cake pan with the same delicious results (a loaf is easier to travel with)
Thank you!
🙂
Annabell,
I wouldn’t cook it in a loaf pan. You couldn’t bake it in one loaf pan, you would need at least two. You would also have to adjust the baking time. I can’t guarantee that it will turn out. I would recommend sticking with the bundt pan.
~Carrie
Carrie,
I really appericate you getting back to me so quickly I took your advice and stuck with the bundt pan. The cake looks great (haven’t tried it yet) the only thing is my glaze looks nothing like your picture which looks like a cream cheese frosting. I waited and applied to the cool cake but it still just “glazed” the whole top. I’m sure it will still be tasty. It wasn’t supposed to be 1/4 pound of butter and?
I made this last night for a dinner party. It was a very good cake and I had a lot of compliments on it. I love all things lemon! Not sure where the “Italian” part of the name comes into it though! I did have my glaze separate on me. It worked fine for putting it directly on the cake while warm, but didn’t work as well for the second step of putting it on the cooled cake. I think next time I will just make a simple powdered sugar and lemon juice icing for the cooled part. Still tasted good though. Thanks for the recipe.
Andi,
I’m glad that the cake turned out for you. It isn’t really an authentic Italian cake, but hey who cares when it is so good. I’m sorry you had trouble tiwth the glaze. If the butter is too cold or too warm it will separate. it needs to be at room temperature. I hope this helps!
~Carrie
Can I substitute whole milk for the buttermilk ?
Annette,
You can substitute 1/2 cup of whole milk and 1/2 tbsp. of lemon juice for the buttermilk. Make sure to let it stand for 10 minutes before you mix it into the cake. I hope this helps!
~Carrie
I just made this recipe today. I wish I could show you a picture. It came out great. I Made it for a small dinner party and didn’t want leftovers (because I’ll eat the whole thing) so I went to the craft store and got a Wilton’s pan that has 6 mini bundts. I cooked them at 325 for 45 minutes and they are perfect! Of course ovens vary and mine is gas so that may make a difference. Just keep an eye on them. I plan on freezing the 2 or 3 that we don’t eat tonight. Next time I may try the recipe with Key Limes. I was also going to try and make the glaze a rasberry flavor.
Donna,
I am so glad that it turned out for you! I have been meaning to try it with limes for awhile now. Let me know if you try it.
Have a great weekend!
Carrie
I am anxious to try this recipe as I bake bundt cakes often. I was wondering if it would be possible to use ‘cake flour for this recipe? Do you think it would make the texture too dense?
Judy,
I wouldn’t substitute cake flour in this recipe. A pound cake is a dense cake and the cake flour will not accomplish that. Some cake recipes you can swap it out, but this one I wouldn’t.
Have a great weekend!
Carrie
I didn’t have a bundt pan so I baked it in a 9×13……It was really, really good! I forecast that this will be a household favorite.
Ginny,
Wow, that is cool! I have never tried it in a 9×13 pan, so it’s nice to know that it would work. Thanks for the feedback!
~Carrie
This cake sounds wonderful! Do you think I can substitute orange instead of lemon.
Thank you
Mark,
Yes, you could replace the lemon for orange. I have been meaning to do that for a while now. Let me know how it turns out.
~Carrie
Hello, looking forward to trying this recipe, sounds delicious. I’m curious about the thick white icing in the picture; there’s no mention of it in the recipe or the comments. The glaze I understand just fine, but regarding the other, is that not something you did yourself when developing this recipe? If not, is there perhaps a recipe connected with the image (the lemon bundt pictured) that you’ve used here?
Thank you!
Kelley,
Thanks for stopping by. The thick white frosting that you are referring to it the lemon glaze. When the cake comes out of the oven you spread half the glaze on the hot cake and the remaining glaze after the cake has cooled down completely. The reason it looks thicker is because the cake had cooled down so the glaze didn’t soak into the cake.
I hope this helps!
Carrie
Oh, I see! Wow, thank you very much for the clarification, I wouldn’t have guessed it would look so very different. Excellent; I quite like the look of it. Thanks again, really looking forward to trying this!
Kelley